Final Four will net the city more corporate attention

The appeal of San Antonio, entertaining corporate clients, industry experts Robert Tuchman et al

Source: San Antonio Business Journal
By: W. Scott Bailey

San Antonio, host of the 2008 NCAA Men's Final Four, has used high-profile sports events to help build up its reputation as a major tourism destination.

Now national sports marketing firms from New York to Los Angeles are hoping to benefit from that popularity by bringing high-end hoops fans -- including potentially hundreds of corporate executives -- to the nation's seventh largest city to celebrate one of college sports' greatest events.

One of those firms is TSE Sports & Entertainment. Robert Tuchman is president of the New York firm, which markets hospitality packages atmarquee sporting events to corporate clients. The firm brought a number of key corporate executives to San Antonio for the 2004 Final Four.

Tuchman says TSE has blocked approximately 200 rooms for the upcoming championship in April, the majority of which are at the Westin La Cantera Resort. Roughly 75 percent of the business Tuchman says his firm is bringing to San Antonio next month is corporate -- including a number of CEOs from Fortune 500 companies and other top-level executives.

"San Antonio is absolutely perfect for this event," Tuchman says. "I can't rave enough about that city."

No room at the inn

Out West, another firm, PrimeSport, is working to woo even more corporate travelers to San Antonio for the Big Dance. The Los Angeles-based sports travel and event management company is the official ticket and hospitality package provider for the 2008 Men's Final Four.

PrimeSport Vice President Sharyn Outtrim says her firm is working with the NCAA to position the Final Four as a top tier-one event for corporate America.

Like Tuchman, Outtrim says San Antonio's allure as a popular destination is providing an important lift to those seeking to bring more corporate fans to the Final Four.

One of the packages PrimeSport is marketing is the Elite Experience, billed as the next level of sports hospitality, complete with live entertainment lounges, meet and greet opportunities with basketball legends, gourmet food stations and open bars.

"We've had some really strong response already from corporate clients," Outtrim explains. "They really like San Antonio and that has certainly helped our efforts.

"We have rooms blocked across San Antonio. We expect to fill them."

TSE issues an annual Tuchman Sports Event Index, ranking corporate interest in travel to major sporting events in the United States and abroad. The 2008 index ranks the San Antonio Final Four sixth, ahead of events like the BCS Championship football game, the Kentucky Derby and NBA All-Star weekend.

Tuchman says the people TSE is bringing will include meeting planners, travel coordinators and other decision makers that could generate new business for San Antonio long after the Final Four is over. He says this event represents an opportunity for the Alamo City to "put its best foot forward."

"These are the people," Tuchman explains, "who are going to determine where they hold their national sales meetings, where they are going to hold their other corporate meetings or conventions."

Tuchman says San Antonio also will have an opportunity to impress corporate executives who may be looking for a place to expand their respective companies' operations.

"We know corporate America has an interest in San Antonio," Tuchman says. "It's amazing how something like this (Final Four) can generate something much bigger. It's about getting people in the door. The city gets to be in the spotlight, in front of some very important people."